severe gambling problem

[cook1947]

I was at the Ameristar in St. Louis last week and a lady was in the booth next to us while eating, and you could see she was in great distress emotionally. We asked if she was OK and she said she was in real trouble with her gambling and she asked about the 1-800-gamblers site. I have to say I did not know. What does this site do? Whatever they do, she obviously needed some help.

[Frank Kneeland]

1-800-gambler is a state sponsored (Illinois) hot-line that will help steer people towards treatment strategies. They usually start out by asking the caller several template questions similar to those employed by GA. Though a good first step, such hot-lines are only for crisis managment and aren't considered anything but a first step. A large percentage of pathological gamblers require in-patient therapy and may have organic neuro-chemical imbalances that only treatment with medications will address.At best these hot-lines can direct people to the help they need. They are also only for late stage problem gamblers.The interview I'll be posting March 1st is targeted at problem gambling prevention, rather than after the fact treatment.~FK